When a bookshelf is placed next to the enchantment table (keeping one block of air in between) it will increase the maximum enchantment level. Fifteen bookshelves need to be placed in order to obtain the maximum enchantment level of 30. See enchantment mechanics for more specific details.

The arcane glyphs that float from bookshelves to the enchantment table and the cryptic runes in the enchantment table's interface are written in the Standard Galactic Alphabet, which is a simple alphabet substitution cipher used in the Commander Keen series of computer games.

The arcane glyphs can only be seen if particles are set above 'Minimal'.

The cryptic runes seen in the interface are randomly constructed from the following list of words:

Three to five words are chosen from the list and appended to each other, then displayed in the Standard Galactic Alphabet. The words chosen are random and are purely cosmetic: they have no relation to the enchantments that will be applied to the item and are not saved on the enchanted item (meaning they will tell you nothing about what the resulting spell will be), and they are only displayed in the enchantment table. They are just decoration for a choice among random enchantments, for each of which only the cost and one of the enchantments is known.

By default, the GUI of an enchantment table is labeled "Enchant", but this name can be customized by naming it in an anvil before placing it, or by changing the CustomName tag using the /blockdata command.

The first images of the enchantment screen are revealed, with enchantments written in the Standard Galactic Alphabet. The first enchantment translates onto "Well Played Internets You Are Good", the second translated into "These Names Will Be Random And Confusing", and the third translates to "Each Spell Costs Experience Levels". The Standard Galactic Alphabet or SGA was originally created by Tom Hall for use in the Commander Keen series of computer games.

Basics of enchanting added, along with the enchanting table. It did not require bookshelves to get maximum enchantments. Many enchantments were not yet in the game. Enchantments were and continue to be labeled in the enchanting table as random words written in the Standard Galactic Alphabet.

Fixed a bug where all enchantments would show up as Feather Falling I.

Properly enabled enchanting on SMP. Previously, if a player attempted to enchant an item, it appeared enchanted for the client, but updated with the un-enchanted status once the player logged out and then back in again.

You can now add the Silk Touch enchantment to shears and the Unbreaking enchantment to anything that has durability.

Efficiency is nerfed a bit so that enchanted tools that don't match the block you're breaking will no longer work as quickly as before (e.g. Efficiency V Pickaxes no longer instantly break dirt or wood logs).

Anvils no longer allow enchanted books to apply to items, if no change in enchantments would take effect. This can occur if all enchantments on the book are incompatible with existing enchantments on the item – or if the enchanted book has no enchantments.

Black-textured particles are "fired" into the bookshelves, which later emit the corresponding particle to the enchantment table. (Visible on the red book on the top-left bookshelf, and above the green book on the bottom-left bookshelf, and in the animation farther up the page as a brief flicker).

The enchantment table actually produces the particles emitted from the bookshelves. These particles originate inside the Enchantment table and are relocated to the bookshelf almost immediately, but travel slow enough to be briefly visible. The particle that enters and leaves the bookshelf is always the same "letter", but the ones traveling into the bookshelves are black.

Enchantment tables are mostly made of obsidian, and thus have a blast resistance of 6,000 and cannot be destroyed by TNT.

Enchantment tables are midway between slabs and full blocks height-wise, so they could be potentially used as a TNT cannon's range-amplifier instead of slabs or trapdoors

When you place a light block (such as glowstone or a lit redstone lamp) and place an enchantment table on it, the light stays.

When the player is invisible, the enchantment table can still "see" the player and open up.

On October 1, 2011, Notch tweeted an image of the enchantment screen, with enchantments .[2] The first enchantment translates into "Well Played Internets You Are Good", the second translated into "These Names Will Be Random And Confusing", and the third translates to "Each Spell Costs Experience Levels".

Three of the possible words for enchantments are "the elder scrolls," likely a joke at Bethesda, creator of "The Elder Scrolls" series and whose parent company, Zenimax, attempted to sue Mojang for the name of their game Scrolls.

The words "klaatu berata niktu" are a (misspelled) reference to "Klaatu barada nikto", a phrase that originates from the 1951 movie The Day the Earth Stood Still and has been since used as a reference in many other movies, cartoons and games.

Similarly, "Xyzzy" is a magic spell in the game "Colossal Cave Adventure" and has been used in several other games as an Easter Egg or cheat code.

The word "embiggen" is a fictional word coined by The Simpsons quote: "A Noble Spirit Embiggens the Smallest Man".

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